Walter Johnson football coach Jon Kadi has stepped down after five seasons at the Bethesda school.

The 33-year-old Kadi, who resigned late last week, cited the demanding time commitment as the primary reason he was giving up his position. He did not rule out coaching football in some assistant capacity in the future.

“My son is 15 months old. Just more time with the family,” Kadi said Tuesday, adding that he would like “to stay involved, but not as a head coach.”

Kadi, who is from Connecticut, played college football at Catholic University from 1999-2003, and later earned his master’s in architecture from the school.

He had just one year of junior varsity coaching experience at the school before he was brought in to turn around an ailing program at Walter Johnson in 2009. After winning three games in his first season, Kadi led the Wildcats to a 6-4 record and near playoff berth in 2010. It was the first winning season the school had in 12 years.

Walter Johnson won just five games combined the next two years. Last fall, with just two returning starters and one of Montgomery County’s youngest teams, the Wildcats finished 1-9 and scored just 52 points all season. Kadi’s career record at the school was 15-35.

Still, he and his staff accomplished a lot in his time there, Kadi said. The school sent numerous kids to play college football. The equipment was upgraded. And Kadi saw his turnout grow significantly, with more than 100 kids playing for the program in four of his five years.

“I think the program is in better shape than when I got there,” Kadi said. “Overall, I think we have a good group of kids coming in, a good group of kids coming back, and I think we’ll be competitive again in the near future.”

Roman Stubbs covers the University of Maryland athletics for The Washington Post.

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